Consumers that desire certain products and services may seek out vendors or information through a number of sources including word of mouth, printed advertising via publications such as the YellowPages™ or newspaper classifieds, and the Internet. In general, a significant amount of time may pass between the consumer's initial research and the consumer obtaining the product or service. A portion of this delay may be the result of the consumer spending too much time researching due to lack of knowledge, the inability to identify a suitable product or service as a result of too many choices, or delays associated with finding someone knowledgeable for assistance (e.g. the person with knowledge is not available to scheduling issues).
Therefore, it is desirable reduce this delay so as to enable consumers to quickly obtain information or products they desire, and for service providers and merchants to have a way to quickly identify consumers who desire their specific products and services so as to help increase the likelihood of a successful sale.